Meet Bob and Lisa Martire | Owners – Bob was a former Dentist and Lisa is a math teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bob and Lisa Martire and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bob and Lisa, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We previously had owned a dental practice in Connecticut and had always joked about owning a small knick-knack shop when we retired. We would dream about what that store would look like and how we would run it. Flash forward to us moving to Conway – my husband(Bob) and I would walk around town a lot while visiting the restaurants and local shops and started to think about what the town needed. My daughter and I are avid readers. She edits books for new authors as a side job and works for a publishing house out of the UK as a portfolio manager for statistical journals. Our first book series that we read together was Harry Potter. Books have been a bond between us. My husband and I decided to change our idea of a knick-knack store (since they’re everywhere in Myrtle Beach) to a bookstore. The nearest one that we would frequent was in Market Commons. We even asked one of the local shops on Main St. if they knew of any store fronts that would be opening up – still thinking that this would be our retirement adventure. Little did we know that fate would step in and move up the process. In October of 2022, Bob was in a car accident that damaged his right wrist. Being a dentist, he is unable to work with the dexterity that is necessary in his profession. He was in a bad mental state – thinking he had ruined our lives. After surgery on his wrist and knowing that going back to dentistry was not going to be an option, we decided to pursue my dream of owning a bookstore. We reached out to Hillary Howard, executive director of Conway Downtown Alive, who was very excited about having a bookstore in Conway, to help us find an available store front. Through several ups and downs, we were shown our present location – which oddly enough was the same store that we walked into some many months before – fate definitely steps in. It was “as is” and needed a lot of love but as they say the bones were good. I knew that as a family we could make this work because when the three of us want something, we figure it out. Bob and I got a mentor from Score. Michelle gave us indie stores to reach out to. I started researching to create a business plan. From there we started to find contractors, painters, and electricians to transform our space into a bookstore while keeping the bones and history of the space.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Bob had his own dental practice in Connecticut before we moved to SC and Lisa stopped teaching to become his office manager and be a stay at home mom. From this experience we learned how to run a business and dealing with the public. It was definitely not easy because you are responsible for all aspects of the business and your successes and failures while being the sole providers for our family. The lessons we have learned along the way are that hard work and determination will pay off in the long run. We also learned that working together as a team, there isn’t anything that he and I can’t handle or figure out. What sets us apart – we are a small independent bookstore whose inventory is new books – we also share with our customers glimpses our passions – reading, Lego, and puzzles – our daughter Michelle – who is an avid reader keeps us abreast of books we must have and writes reviews of books that she has read that we share with our customers Our story -Fate stepped in when my husband’s professional life as a dentist was no longer an option

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to downtown Conway for the hometown feel, great food, River Walk, and local shopping. Next we would go the Myrtle Beach National Park and walk the beach. I would also take my visitors to Barefoot Landing, Broadway at the Beach, and Callahan’s at Calabash. Some of the restaurants or local eateries we would take our visitors to:

1. Toscano’s
2. Take a Bite
3. Hook and Ladder
4. Walk-ons
5. Trestle
6. Groucho’s
7. Crooked Oak
8. The Local Deli
9. Carolina Cheese and Provisions

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Hillary Howard – executive director of Conway Downtown Alive Betty and Edgar Woodward, Jr. – owners of our store space
Chris Bianco -SCORE mentor
Anthony Huffman – building our bookshelves

Website: ournextchapterbookstore.com

Instagram: @ournextchapterbookstore

Facebook: Our Next Chapter Bookstore

Other: Tiktok -@ournextchapterbookstore